@Mods: Be kind please, I’m trying to spread the word. Leak-free is a ghost town.
Introduction[/SIZE]
I’m sure many people, myself included, found the final section of Surface Tension in Black Mesa lacking in some respects. Rightly so, the Black Mesa devs cut out an entire map from HL1’s version and the scene with the Gargantua was hastily pasted onto the end of Black Mesa’s Surface Tension. Lots of rumours fly around that the reason the ending of Surface Tension was so rushed is because the developer left halfway through, and the evidence in the mapping certainly supports this, but I have no conclusive proof. It’s a shame because the rest of Surface Tension was brilliant in almost every single way, it felt wrong for there not to be this fitting, grand conclusion to what basically amounts to the climax of the entire game.
No more. After the initial disappointment of the ending of Surface Tension, I took it upon myself to personally rectify this. This thread is to advertise my mod, Surface Tension Uncut, which adds back to the chapter what the Black Mesa devs left out.
I strongly felt that the omission of the cut map really harmed the storytelling element of the game, and lessened the impact of Forget About Freeman, as well as removing some iconic scenes from the first game. Seeing all the battles between the aliens and the HECU in Half-Life was one of the most awesome features of Surface Tension, and was definitely missing from Black Mesa. It also tied the story together - it simply made sense in Half-Life’s Forget About Freeman when the military decided to pull out, but it didn’t really have the same effect in Black Mesa due to the lack of fighting between the military and aliens as observed by the player.
You can find the leak-free thread for this mod here (by far the most viewed thread on that subforum, 114 pages of discussion and counting!)
You can find my ModDB page here.
About Surface Tension Uncut[/SIZE]
This project has been in development for 3 months now, and it’s finally complete. Having finished developing this mod, I now feel comfortable releasing it to the general public. It’s been EXTENSIVELY tested with an exhaustive dialogue with the community on leak-free - there have actually been 9 community beta versions already. We’ve all worked hard to absolutely bring these maps up to standard, and I personally strongly feel they are every bit as good as anything Black Mesa has delivered.
This mod is an add-on to Black Mesa. When you install it, it adds 3 maps to Black Mesa’s Surface Tension chapter, which slot in naturally with the rest of the campaign. It must be added to an existing installation of Black Mesa, and as such requires Black Mesa to work. The maps link seamlessly into Black Mesa’s campaign and restore Surface Tension to its former Half-Life 1 glory, possibly even beyond it. I’ve worked hard to dramatically expand the scope and vision of the map, and deliver the grand climax which Surface Tension deserves.
Here’s a brief description of the way in which my mod works:
Downloading and playing[/SIZE]
Latest Version: 1.11 (Hotfixed) - Final Release. Download here.[/SIZE]
[COLOR=‘Red’]I URGE YOU TO READ THE README AND THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE USING MY MAPS. I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PROBLEMS WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN SOLVED BY READING THE README.
Bear in mind that my maps replace some stock Black Mesa content, so back up stuff you’re not prepared to lose.
Read the readme for detailed installation instructions, but otherwise, simply extract the contents of the zip to your BMS folder and play Surface Tension. Everything else works perfectly on its own.
Media (Screenshots/Videos)[/SIZE]
Click here for a walkthrough of all 3 maps with a developer commentary from me. I strongly recommend that you watch this, to gain insight into my reasoning for changes and certain bugs. This video is a little outdated (1 or 2 versions old), but the basic design of the mod hasn’t changed much since then.
The first major part of my mod. Dramatically expanded and darkened from HL1’s version, as well as given a proper theme. This large multi-story carpark sets the scene for large scale battles you will be seeing throughout ST Uncut.
Top floor of the parking lot. The combat encounter which takes place here is especially fun, and is an entirely new encounter not seen in the original.
The “street battle”. The player gets a top down view of a deadly battle between the HECU and Aliens. The vent on the left hand side of the picture is where the player will encounter Snarks, and also the revised “vent drop” scene.
The Garage after the vent drop. Fairly significantly changed from its HL1 counterpart, but visually consistent with the other garages seen throughout Black Mesa’s Surface Tension. Also home to a reimagined “ambush” involving explosives.
COMPLETELY re-imagined TOW courtyard. The original’s design was very bland and generic, and I’ve given it a serious overhaul. Also take note of the expansive 3d skybox, which really helps to provide a sense of scale.
Alternate view of the TOW courtyard.
The warehouse in Half-Life 1 was home to a large scale battle between the HECU and the Aliens. It’s been re-imagined into an outdoor battle to allow for some impressive aerial set pieces. This battle is the highlight and climax of the first map.
The “Abrams Battle,” which in HL1 was a very nicely scripted outdoor battle which the player is privy to. In my mod it’s the setting for an extremely large scale battle involving multiple aerial elements, ~25 ground units (in waves), and a tank. An awesome battle made even more epic by use of Joel Nielsen’s unused On A Rail track.
Alternate shot of the same area, later on during the fight.
The rooftops the player must climb onto after the battle is one. This area is home to a new Sniper encounter at long range and provides another great sense of scale.
2 shots of the re-imagined “Furnace Room,” now home to a new puzzle.
What’s next?[/SIZE]
Now that Surface Tension Uncut is done and dusted, I’ve moved my focus to the other extremely cut chapter in Black Mesa - “On a Rail”. I’ve just today started work on OaR Uncut and expect to have it completed within roughly the same timeframe. It aims to restore OaR to its former length/glory whilst also maintaining the same redesigning principles which Black Mesa gave it. I may or may not combine ST Uncut with OaR Uncut to create “Black Mesa Uncut,” which will be an unofficial expansion to the game.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)[/SIZE]
Q: How does this affect my Black Mesa campaign, or more specifically, Surface Tension?
A: My map expands gameplay in Surface Tension by 30 - 45 minutes. It ADDS to what’s already there. None of Surface Tension is affected aside from C2A5G, which in Black Mesa’s version of Surface Tension, is the very last map.
Q: I see you’ve included the first map of Forget About Freeman in your release. Why? Do I have to install it?
A: If you want the maps to link up with the rest of the campaign, then yes. It’s to do with the way Source handles level changing. Linked maps must contain references to one another. Forget About Freeman’s first map (C3A1A) originally had links to C2A5G (the last map of ST under the BM Dev Team’s version). With my extensions, Forget About Freeman is now linked to C2A5I (which under MY version is the last map of Surface Tension). I didn’t change anything else on Forget About Freeman aside from the map linkage. You don’t HAVE to install it, but C2A5I will crash once you complete it if you don’t.
Q: Will this be integrated into Black Mesa properly, or remain a fan project?
A: I don’t know! If the devs approach me asking if they can use my stuff, I’m sure as heck going to say yes! I’d be very proud if something like that were to happen. But I have no plans to approach them.
Q: Why was Surface Tension cut so badly?
A: The mapper left halfway through the project, and there are probably other reasons too. Either way, I don’t blame the team. The rest of Surface Tension was actually brilliant, the biggest problem was it didn’t have a fitting end like it did in Half-Life 1.
Q: How do I install this?
A: Read the readme.
Credits[/SIZE]
-The Black Mesa dev team for creating such an astonishing game with fantastic maps, especially their Surface Tension chapters!
-Valve for creating the amazing Half-Life universe in the first place, and their groundbreaking series.
-Me (Text FAMGUY1) for all the mapping and design, I did this pretty much all singlehandedly.
-One Free Man (from Facepunch) for fixing the UV mapping bug on one of the stock Black Mesa models for me.
-Mbit, for figuring out the solution to the Osprey pieces doing damage, and proposing a few architectural changes.
-Ronster for helping me get the satchel pipe scene to work properly.
-Conti, for his amazing photoshop mockups and effort on my behalf.
-CFoust for creating Propper, a very useful tool which I’ve made good use of. If you’re a mapper, check it out!
-Joel Nielsen for his awesome music, one old song of which I used in this map set.
-The community at large (particularly Tian Wang (Wangman), Ronster, Dadster, and JessieStorm) for providing me with tonnes of feedback and giving me tips and tricks on how to make things work and how to design areas.
, I agree that it was pretty stupid to move this from the Cafeteria.